Multicast communications for radio resource control modes

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A communication device, otherwise known as a user equipment (UE) may receive signaling indicating a set of multicast configurations for a set of multicast modes supported by the UE. Each multicast mode of the set of multicast modes may be associated with one or more radio resource control (RRC) states. The UE may determine a multicast configuration of the set of multicast configurations based on an RRC state according to which the UE is operating. The UE may receive, while operating according to the RRC state, multicast data according to the determined multicast configuration.

CROSS REFERENCE

The present application for patent claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/885,113 by TAKEDA et al., entitled“MULTICAST COMMUNICATIONS FOR RADIO RESOURCE CONTROL MODES,” filed Aug.9, 2019, assigned to the assignee hereof, and expressly incorporated byreference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The following relates generally to wireless communications and morespecifically to multicast communications for radio resource control(RRC) modes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED TECHNOLOGY

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable ofsupporting communication with multiple users by sharing the availablesystem resources (for example, time, frequency, and power). Examples ofsuch multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems suchas Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, orLTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may bereferred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employtechnologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time divisionmultiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA),orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discreteFourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing(DFT-S-OFDM).

A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number ofbase stations or network access nodes, each simultaneously supportingcommunication for multiple communication devices, each of which may beotherwise known as a user equipment (UE). Some wireless communicationssystems, such as NR systems, may support multiple radio resource control(RRC) modes (also referred to as RRC states), for example, an RRCconnected mode, an RRC idle mode, or an RRC inactive mode. Some wirelesscommunications systems may also support multicast communications tosupport various multicast service types in NR systems. In some wirelesscommunications systems, communication devices may operate in a specificRRC state to support a specific multicast service type. As demand formulticast communication efficiency increases, some wirelesscommunications systems may fail to support one or more multicast servicetypes while operating in one or more RRC modes (for example, an RRC idlemode or an RRC inactive mode), and thereby may be unable to support theone or more multicast service types. Improved techniques are thereforedesired.

SUMMARY

The described techniques relate generally to supporting multicastcommunications while in various operating states. In some examples, thedescribed techniques may be used to configure a communication device,which may be a user equipment (UE), with one or more multicastconfigurations related to one or more multicast modes that may alsocorrespond to one or more radio resource control (RRC) modes (alsoreferred to as RRC states), such as an RRC connected mode, an RRC idlemode, or an RRC inactive mode. In some examples, the describedtechniques may be used to configure the communication device with afirst multicast mode (for example, a “mode one”) in which thecommunication device may receive multicast communications according to amulticast configuration while operating exclusively in the RRC connectedmode. Additionally, in some examples, the described techniques may beused to configure the communication device with a second multicast mode(for example, a “mode two”) in which the communication device mayreceive multicast communications according to a different multicastconfiguration while operating in any of the RRC modes (for example, anyof the RRC connected mode, the RRC idle mode, or the RRC inactive mode).In some examples, the described techniques may be used to configure thecommunication device with both multicast modes. In some such examples inwhich two or more multicast modes may be configured, the communicationdevice may operate, at any given time, in accordance with a particularone of the multicast modes or jointly under multiple multicast modes.

In some examples, the described techniques may be used to configure bothmulticast modes in accordance with a unified framework. In other words,the described techniques may be used to configure the multicast modes toshare one or more common channel designs, configurations, or parameters.In some examples, the described techniques may be used to configure thecommon parameters of the multicast modes with varying parameter valuesor parameter ranges across the multicast modes. Alternatively, thedescribed techniques may be used to configure the multicast modes inaccordance with a separate framework. That is, the described techniquesmay be used to configure different channel designs, configurations, orparameters between different multicast modes. Based on such techniques,the communication device may be configured to support multicastcommunications in accordance with one or more multicast modes. Thedescribed techniques may thus include features for improvements to powerconsumption, spectral efficiency, higher data rates and, in someexamples, may promote enhanced efficiency for high reliability and lowlatency multicast operations, among other benefits.

One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosurecan be implemented in a method for wireless communication at a UE. Themethod may include receiving signaling indicating a set of multicastconfigurations for a set of multicast modes supported by the UE, eachmulticast mode of the set of multicast modes being associated with oneor more RRC states, determining a multicast configuration of the set ofmulticast configurations based on an RRC state according to which the UEis operating, and receiving, while operating according to the RRC state,multicast data according to the determined multicast configuration. Insome examples, the method may include receiving signaling indicating themulticast configuration in UE-dedicated signaling, and determining thatthe multicast configuration is associated with a first multicast mode ofthe set of multicast modes based on the signaling indicating themulticast configuration being received in UE-dedicated signaling. Insome implementations, the method may include receiving signalingindicating the multicast configuration in signaling common to a set ofUEs that include the UE, and determining that the multicastconfiguration is associated with a first multicast mode of the set ofmulticast modes based on the signaling indicating the multicastconfiguration being received in signaling common to the set of UEs.

Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in thisdisclosure can be implemented in an apparatus for wirelesscommunication. The apparatus may include a processor, memory coupledwith the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. Theinstructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatusto receive signaling indicating a set of multicast configurations for aset of multicast modes supported by the apparatus, each multicast modeof the set of multicast modes being associated with one or more RRCstates, determine a multicast configuration of the set of multicastconfigurations based on an RRC state according to which the UE isoperating, and receive, while operating according to the RRC state,multicast data according to the determined multicast configuration. Insome examples the processor may cause the apparatus to receive signalingindicating the multicast configuration in UE-dedicated signaling, anddetermine that the multicast configuration is associated with a firstmulticast mode of the set of multicast modes based on the signalingindicating the multicast configuration being received in UE-dedicatedsignaling. In some implementations, the processor may cause theapparatus to receive signaling indicating the multicast configuration insignaling common to a set of UEs that include the UE, and determine thatthe multicast configuration is associated with a first multicast mode ofthe set of multicast modes based on the signaling indicating themulticast configuration being received in signaling common to the set ofUEs.

Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in thisdisclosure can be implemented in a method of wireless communication at abase station base station. The method may include identifying, for a UE,a first multicast mode of a set of multicast modes supported by the basestation, each multicast mode of the set of multicast modes associatedwith one or more RRC states, transmitting, to the UE, a multicastconfiguration according to the first multicast mode, and transmitting,to the UE, multicast data according to the transmitted multicastconfiguration. In some examples, the method may include identifying thatthe UE is to operate according to the first multicast mode to receivethe multicast data, where the transmission of the multicastconfiguration indicating the first multicast mode includes signaling themulticast configuration in UE-dedicated signaling. In someimplementations, the method may include identifying that the UE is tooperate according to the first multicast mode to receive the multicastdata, where the transmission of the multicast configuration indicatingthe first multicast mode includes signaling the multicast configurationin signaling common to a set of UEs, including the UE.

Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in thisdisclosure can be implemented in an apparatus for wirelesscommunication. The apparatus may include a processor, memory coupledwith the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. Theinstructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatusto identify, for a UE, a first multicast mode of a set of multicastmodes supported by the apparatus, each multicast mode of the set ofmulticast modes associated with one or more RRC states, transmit, to theUE, a multicast configuration according to the first multicast mode, andtransmit, to the UE, multicast data according to the transmittedmulticast configuration. In some examples, the processor may cause theapparatus to identify that the UE is to operate according to the firstmulticast mode to receive the multicast data, where the transmission ofthe multicast configuration indicating the first multicast mode includessignaling the multicast configuration in UE-dedicated signaling. In someimplementations, the processor may cause the apparatus to identify thatthe UE is to operate according to the first multicast mode to receivethe multicast data, where the transmission of the multicastconfiguration indicating the first multicast mode includes signaling themulticast configuration in signaling common to a set of UEs, includingthe UE.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate examples of wireless communications systemsthat support multicast communications for radio resource control (RRC)modes in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 3-7 illustrate examples of multicast configurations that supportmulticast communications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a process flow that supports multicastcommunications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show block diagrams of devices that support multicastcommunications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram of a UE communications manager thatsupports multicast communications for RRC modes in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supportsmulticast communications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 13 and 14 show block diagrams of devices that support multicastcommunications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 15 shows a block diagram of a base station communications managerthat supports multicast communications for RRC modes in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supportsmulticast communications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 17-22 show flowcharts illustrating methods that support multicastcommunications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some wireless communication systems include communication devices, suchas user equipments (UEs) and base stations, that may support multipleradio access technologies (RATs). For example, UEs and base stations,such as next-generation NodeBs or giga-NodeBs (either of which may bereferred to as a gNB), may support 4G systems, such as Long TermEvolution (LTE) systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems, which may bereferred to as New Radio (NR) systems. The UEs and base stations maysupport various radio resource control (RRC) modes (also referred to asRRC states), such as an RRC connected mode, an RRC idle mode, and an RRCinactive mode. The UEs and base stations may also support multicastcommunications to support various multicast services. As an example, amulticast service may include or involve a point-to-multipointcommunication scheme in which information (for example, in the form ofpackets) is transmitted simultaneously from a single source (forexample, a base station) to multiple destinations (for example, multipleUEs). A multicast service may additionally refer to a distribution ofinformation to or among a specific group of communication devices (forexample, a specific group of UEs) that are subscribed to the multicastservice. In some examples, each of the UEs may be configured to operateunder one or more of the above example RRC modes to support one or moredifferent multicast service types. In such a manner, a UE may, in someexamples, be configured to operate under a specific RRC mode to supporta particular multicast service type.

A communication device (for example, a UE) may be configured to transmitfeedback information (for example, a positive acknowledgment (ACK), anegative acknowledgement (NACK), or channel state information (CSI)feedback) about a multicast service. A multicast service may includevarious multicast service types such as software update services and lowdata rate common packet delivery in a wide area network (WAN), amongother service types. In some examples, the UE may provide feedback to abase station regarding a quality or a performance of a multicastservice, such as a common packet delivery in industrial Internet-ofThings (TOT) deployments, or a packet delivery in mission criticaldeployments including direct communications, such as device-to-device(D2D) communications or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications. Insome other examples, the UE may provide feedback about a streamingmulticast service (for example, a 4K or an 8K video streaming resolutionservice). In some cases, however, the UE may be unable to support theprovision of feedback about a multicast service while operating underone or more RRC modes. For example, the UE may be unable to providefeedback on one or more of the above example multicast services whileoperating in an RRC idle mode or in an RRC inactive mode. As demand formulticast communication efficiency increases, the described techniquesmay address the above shortcomings, by configuring UEs to enable supportof various multicast service types while operating in one or both of theRRC idle mode or the RRC inactive mode.

In some examples, the described techniques may be used to configure a UEwith one or more multicast configurations corresponding to one or moremulticast modes associated with one or more RRC modes, for example, anRRC connected mode, an RRC idle mode, or an RRC inactive mode. In someexamples, a multicast configuration may correspond to a set ofparameters related to reception and transmission of multicastcommunication while the UE is configured with a particular multicastmode. The multicast mode may correspond to one or more RRC modes inwhich the UE may operate when receiving multicast communications. Insome examples, the described techniques may be used to configuremultiple UEs with a first multicast mode (for example, a “mode one”) inwhich the UEs may receive multicast communications in accordance with amulticast configuration while operating exclusively in one of the aboveexample RRC modes (for example, the RRC connected mode). The describedtechniques may also be used to configure the UEs with a second multicastmode (for example, a “mode two”) in which the UEs may receive multicastcommunications in accordance with a multicast configuration whileoperating in any two or more of the RRC modes. In some such examples,while operating in mode two, the UEs may receive multicastcommunications while operating in any of the RRC connected mode, the RRCidle mode, or the RRC inactive mode. In examples in which the UEs may beconfigured with two or more multicast modes, each of the UEs may operatein accordance with one of the multicast modes at any given time, or mayjointly operate under multiple multicast modes.

Particular aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosuremay be implemented to realize one or more of the following potentialadvantages. The disclosed techniques may provide benefits andenhancements to the operation of the communication devices. For example,various aspects presented in this disclosure may provide communicationdevices such as UEs with support for receiving multicast services whileoperating under various different RRC modes (for example, an RRCconnected mode, an RRC idle mode, or an RRC inactive mode). Byconfiguring UEs with multiple multicast modes, each associated with oneor more RRC modes, some aspects facilitate or support reductions inpower consumption, improved spectral efficiency, higher data rates orenhanced flexibility or efficiency for multicast operations, among otherbenefits. For example, by configuring the UEs with a multicast modeassociated with all RRC modes, or with at least an RRC idle mode or anRRC inactive mode (rather than only with a multicast mode associatedwith the RRC connected mode), power consumption in a given UE may bereduced because the UE may be capable of receiving and otherwisesupporting various multicast communications regardless of the RRC modeit is operating in. In this way, the UE may avoid having to switchbetween RRC modes, such as from an RRC idle mode to an RRC connectedmode, to support the reception of a multicast service. Additionally, byconfiguring the described communication devices with multiple multicastmodes, each multicast mode associated with one or more RRC modes, thedescribed communication devices may experience enhanced efficiency formulticast operations because the described communication devices maymitigate latencies related to switching between RRC modes to support amulticast service.

Aspects of the disclosure are initially described in the context ofwireless communications systems. Aspects of the disclosure are thenillustrated by and described with reference to a process flow thatrelates to group scheduling. Aspects of the disclosure are furtherillustrated by and described with reference to apparatus diagrams,system diagrams, and flowcharts that relate to group scheduling inwireless communications systems.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 100that supports multicast communications for RRC modes in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system100 may include base stations 105, UEs 115, and a core network 130. Insome examples, the wireless communications system 100 may be a Long TermEvolution (LTE) network, an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pronetwork, or a New Radio (NR) network. In some examples, the wirelesscommunications system 100 may support enhanced broadband communications,ultra-reliable (for example, mission critical) communications, lowlatency communications, communications with low-cost and low-complexitydevices, or any combination thereof.

Base stations 105 may be dispersed throughout a geographic area to formthe wireless communications system 100 and may be devices in differentforms or having different capabilities. Base stations 105 and UEs 115may wirelessly communicate via one or more communication links 125. Eachbase station 105 may provide a coverage area 110 over which UEs 115 andthe base station 105 may establish communication links 125. The coveragearea 110 may be an example of a geographic area over which a basestation 105 and a UE 115 support the communication of signals accordingto one or more radio access technologies.

UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout a coverage area 110 of the wirelesscommunications system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary, or mobile,or both at different times. UEs 115 may be devices in different forms orhaving different capabilities.

Some example UEs 115 are illustrated in FIG. 1. The UEs 115 describedherein may be able to communicate with various types of devices, such asother UEs 115, base stations 105, and network equipment (for example,core network nodes, relay devices, integrated access and backhaul (IAB)nodes, or other network equipment), as shown in FIG. 1.

Base stations 105 may communicate with the core network 130, or with oneanother, or both. For example, base stations 105 may interface with thecore network 130 through backhaul links 120 (for example, via an S1, N2,N3, or other interface). Base stations 105 may communicate with oneanother over backhaul links 120 (for example, via an X2, Xn, or otherinterface) either directly (for example, directly between base stations105), or indirectly (for example, via core network 130), or both. Insome examples, backhaul links 120 may be or include one or more wirelesslinks.

One or more of base stations 105 described herein may include or may bereferred to by a person of ordinary skill in the art as a basetransceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radiotransceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next-generation NodeB orgiga-NodeB (either of which may be referred to as a gNB), a Home NodeB,a Home eNodeB, or other suitable terminology.

A UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, awireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriberdevice, or some other suitable terminology, where the “device” may alsobe referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, amongother examples. A UE 115 may also include or may be referred to as apersonal electronic device such as a cellular phone, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personalcomputer. In some examples, a UE 115 may include or be referred to as awireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device,an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, a machine type communications(MTC) device, or among other examples, which may be implemented invarious objects such as appliances, vehicles, meters, among otherexamples.

The UEs 115 described herein may be able to communicate with varioustypes of devices, such as other UEs 115 that may sometimes act as relaysas well as base stations 105 and network equipment including macro eNBsor gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, relay base stations, and among otherexamples, as shown in FIG. 1.

UEs 115 and base stations 105 may wirelessly communicate with oneanother via one or more communication links 125 over one or morecarriers. The term “carrier” may refer to a set of radio frequencyspectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure forsupporting communication links 125. For example, a carrier used for acommunication link 125 may include a portion of a radio frequencyspectrum band (for example, a bandwidth part (BWP)) that is operatedaccording to physical layer channels for a given radio access technology(for example, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR). Each physical layer channelmay carry acquisition signaling (for example, synchronization signals,system information), control signaling that coordinates operation forthe carrier, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communicationssystem 100 may support communication with a UE 115 using carrieraggregation or multi-carrier operation. A UE 115 may be configured withmultiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink componentcarriers according to a carrier aggregation configuration. Carrieraggregation may be used with both frequency division duplexing (FDD) andtime division duplexing (TDD) component carriers.

In some examples (for example, in a carrier aggregation configuration),a carrier may also have acquisition signaling or control signaling thatcoordinates operations for other carriers. A carrier may be associatedwith a frequency channel (for example, an evolved universal mobiletelecommunication system terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) absoluteradio frequency channel number (EARFCN)) and may be positioned accordingto a channel raster for discovery by UEs 115. A carrier may be operatedin a standalone mode in which initial acquisition and connection may beconducted by UEs 115 via the carrier, or the carrier may be operated ina non-standalone mode in which a connection is anchored using adifferent carrier (for example, of the same or a different radio accesstechnology).

Communication links 125 shown in the wireless communications system 100may include uplink transmissions from a UE 115 to a base station 105, ordownlink transmissions from a base station 105 to a UE 115. Carriers maycarry downlink or uplink communications (for example, in an FDD mode) ormay be configured to carry downlink and uplink communications (forexample, in a TDD mode).

A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of the radiofrequency spectrum, and in some examples the carrier bandwidth may bereferred to as a “system bandwidth” of the carrier or the wirelesscommunications system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be oneof a number of determined bandwidths for carriers of a particular radioaccess technology (for example, 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80megahertz (MHz)). Devices of the wireless communications system 100 (forexample, base stations 105, UEs 115, or both) may have hardwareconfigurations that support communications over a particular carrierbandwidth or may be configurable to support communications over one of aset of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, the wireless communicationssystem 100 may include base stations 105 and UEs 115 that supportsimultaneous communications via carriers associated with multiplecarrier bandwidths. In some examples, each served UE 115 may beconfigured for operating over portions (for example, a sub-band, a BWP)or all of a carrier bandwidth.

Signal waveforms transmitted over a carrier may be made up of multiplesubcarriers (for example, using multi-carrier modulation (MCM)techniques such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) ordiscrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM)). In a systememploying MCM techniques, a resource element may consist of one symbolperiod (for example, a duration of one modulation symbol) and onesubcarrier, in which the symbol period and subcarrier spacing areinversely related. The number of bits carried by each resource elementmay depend on the modulation scheme (for example, the order of themodulation scheme, the coding rate of the modulation scheme, or both).Thus, the more resource elements that a UE 115 receives and the higherthe order of the modulation scheme, the higher the data rate may be forthe UE 115. A wireless communications resource may refer to acombination of a radio frequency spectrum resource, a time resource, anda spatial resource (for example, spatial layers or beams), and the useof multiple spatial layers may further increase the data rate or dataintegrity for communications with a UE 115.

One or more numerologies for a carrier may be supported, in which anumerology may include a subcarrier spacing (Δf) and a cyclic prefix. Acarrier may be divided into BWPs having the same or differentnumerologies. In some examples, a UE 115 may be configured with multipleBWPs. In some examples, a single BWP for a carrier is active at a giventime, and communications for the UE 115 may be restricted to activeBWPs.

Time intervals for base stations 105 or UEs 115 may be expressed inmultiples of a basic time unit which may, for example, refer to asampling period of T_(s)=1/(Δf_(max)·N_(f)) seconds, where Δf_(max) mayrepresent the maximum supported subcarrier spacing, and N_(f) mayrepresent the maximum supported discrete Fourier transform (DFT) size.Time intervals of a communications resource may be organized accordingto radio frames each having a specified duration (for example, 10milliseconds (ms)). Each radio frame may be identified by a system framenumber (SFN) (for example, ranging from 0 to 1023).

Each frame may include multiple consecutively numbered subframes orslots, and each subframe or slot may have the same duration. In someexamples, a frame may be divided (for example, in the time domain) intosubframes, and each subframe may be further divided into a number ofslots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable number of slots,and the number of slots may depend on subcarrier spacing. Each slot mayinclude a number of symbol periods (for example, depending on the lengthof the cyclic prefix prepended to each symbol period). In some wirelesscommunications systems 100, a slot may further be divided into multiplemini-slots containing one or more symbols. Excluding the cyclic prefix,each symbol period may contain one or more (for example, N_(f)) samplingperiods. The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrierspacing or frequency band of operation.

A subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, or a symbol may be the smallestscheduling unit (for example, in the time domain) of the wirelesscommunications system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission timeinterval (TTI). In some examples, the TTI duration (for example, thenumber of symbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally oralternatively, the smallest scheduling unit of the wirelesscommunications system 100 may be dynamically selected (for example, inbursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs)).

Physical channels may be multiplexed on a carrier according to varioustechniques. A physical control channel and a physical data channel maybe multiplexed on a downlink carrier, for example, using time divisionmultiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM)techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. A control region (for example,a control resource set (CORESET)) for a physical control channel may bedefined by a number of symbol periods and may extend across the systembandwidth or a subset of the system bandwidth of the carrier. One ormore control regions (for example, CORESETs) may be configured for a setof UEs 115. For example, UEs 115 may monitor or search control regionsfor control information according to one or more search space sets, andeach search space set may include one or multiple control channelcandidates in one or more aggregation levels arranged in a cascadedmanner. An aggregation level for a control channel candidate may referto a number of control channel resources (for example, control channelelements (CCEs)) associated with encoded information for a controlinformation format having a given payload size. Search space sets mayinclude common search space sets configured for sending controlinformation to multiple UEs 115 and UE-specific search space sets forsending control information to a specific UE 115.

Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage via one or morecells, for example a macro cell, a small cell, a hot spot, or othertypes of cells, or various combinations thereof. The term “cell” mayrefer to a logical communication entity used for communication with abase station 105 (for example, over a carrier) and may be associatedwith an identifier for distinguishing neighboring cells (for example, aphysical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID), orothers). In some examples, a cell may also refer to a geographiccoverage area 110 or a portion of a geographic coverage area 110 (forexample, a sector) over which the logical communication entity operates.Such cells may range from smaller areas (for example, a structure, asubset of structure) to larger areas depending on various factors suchas the capabilities of the base station 105. For example, a cell may beor include a building, a subset of a building, exterior spaces betweenor overlapping with geographic coverage areas 110, among other examples.

A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (forexample, several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted accessby UEs 115 with service subscriptions with the network providersupporting the macro cell. A small cell may be associated with alower-powered base station 105, as compared with a macro cell, and asmall cell may operate in the same or different (for example, licensed,unlicensed) frequency bands as macro cells. Small cells may provideunrestricted access to UEs 115 with service subscriptions with thenetwork provider or may provide restricted access to UEs 115 having anassociation with the small cell (for example, UEs 115 in a closedsubscriber group (CSG), UEs 115 associated with users in a home oroffice, among other examples). A base station 105 may support one ormultiple cells and may also support communications over the one or morecells using one or multiple component carriers. In some examples, acarrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may beconfigured according to different protocol types (for example, MTC,narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others)that may provide access for different types of devices.

In some examples, a base station 105 may be movable and thereforeprovide communication coverage for a moving geographic coverage area110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas 110associated with different technologies may overlap, but the differentgeographic coverage areas 110 may be supported by the same base station105. In other examples, overlapping geographic coverage areas 110associated with different technologies may be supported by differentbase stations 105. The wireless communications system 100 may include,for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of basestations 105 provide coverage for various geographic coverage areas 110using the same or different radio access technologies.

The wireless communications system 100 may support synchronous orasynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations 105may have similar frame timings, and transmissions from different basestations 105 may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronousoperation, the base stations 105 may have different frame timings, andtransmissions from different base stations 105 may, in some examples,not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used foreither synchronous or asynchronous operations.

Some UEs 115, such as MTC or IoT devices, may be low cost or lowcomplexity devices and may provide for automated communication betweenmachines (for example, via Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication). M2Mcommunication or MTC may refer to data communication technologies thatallow devices to communicate with one another or a base station 105without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTCmay include communications from devices that integrate sensors or metersto measure or capture information and relay such information to acentral server or application program that makes use of the informationor presents the information to humans interacting with the applicationprogram. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collect information or enableautomated behavior of machines or other devices. Examples ofapplications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventorymonitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, healthcaremonitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological eventmonitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing,physical access control, and transaction-based business charging.

Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ operating modes that reducepower consumption, such as half-duplex communications (for example, amode that supports one-way communication via transmission or reception,but not transmission and reception simultaneously). In some examples,half-duplex communications may be performed at a reduced peak rate.Other power conservation techniques for UEs 115 include entering a powersaving deep sleep mode when not engaging in active communications,operating over a limited bandwidth (for example, according to narrowbandcommunications), or a combination of these techniques. For example, someUEs 115 may be configured for operation using a narrowband protocol typethat is associated with a predefined portion or range (for example, setof subcarriers or resource blocks (RBs)) within a carrier, within aguard-band of a carrier, or outside of a carrier.

The wireless communications system 100 may be configured to supportultra-reliable communications or low-latency communications, or variouscombinations thereof. For example, the wireless communications system100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable low-latencycommunications (URLLC) or mission critical communications. UEs 115 maybe designed to support ultra-reliable, low-latency, or criticalfunctions (for example, mission critical functions). Ultra-reliablecommunications may include private communication or group communicationand may be supported by one or more mission critical services such asmission critical push-to-talk (MCPTT), mission critical video (MCVideo),or mission critical data (MCData). Support for mission criticalfunctions may include prioritization of services, and mission criticalservices may be used for public safety or general commercialapplications. The terms ultra-reliable, low-latency, mission critical,and ultra-reliable low-latency may be used interchangeably herein.

The wireless communications system 100 may be configured to supportmulticast communications. UEs 115 may receive a number of multicastconfigurations for a number of multicast modes supported by the UEs 115.In some examples, each multicast mode of the number of multicast modesmay relate to one or more RRC states. The UEs 115 may determine amulticast configuration based on the RRC state. Accordingly, the UEs 115may receive, while operating according to the RRC state, multicast dataaccording to the determined multicast configuration.

In some examples, a UE 115 may also be able to communicate directly withother UEs 115 over a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 135 (forexample, using a peer-to-peer (P2P) or D2D protocol). One or more UEs115 utilizing D2D communications may be within the geographic coveragearea 110 of a base station 105. Other UEs 115 in such a group may beoutside the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 105 or beotherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station 105. Insome examples, groups of UEs 115 communicating via D2D communicationsmay utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE 115 transmits toevery other UE 115 in the group. In some examples, a base station 105facilitates the scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In otherexamples, D2D communications are carried out between UEs 115 without theinvolvement of a base station 105.

The core network 130 may provide user authentication, accessauthorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and otheraccess, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be anevolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC), which may include at leastone control plane entity that manages access and mobility (for example,a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility managementfunction (AMF)) and at least one user plane entity that routes packetsor interconnects to external networks (for example, a serving gateway(S-GW), a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW), a user planefunction (UPF)). The control plane entity may manage non-access stratum(NAS) functions such as mobility, authentication, and bearer managementfor UEs 115 served by base stations 105 associated with the core network130. User IP packets may be transferred through the user plane entity,which may provide IP address allocation as well as other functions. Theuser plane entity may be connected to the network operators IP services150. The operators IP services 150 may include access to the Internet,Intranet(s), an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), or a Packet-SwitchedStreaming Service.

Some of the network devices, such as a base station 105, may includesubcomponents such as an access network entity 140, which may be anexample of an access node controller (ANC). Each access network entity140 may communicate with UEs 115 through a number of other accessnetwork transmission entities 145, which may be referred to as radioheads, smart radio heads, or transmission/reception points (TRPs). Eachaccess network transmission entity 145 may include one or more antennapanels. In some configurations, various functions of each access networkentity 140 or base station 105 may be distributed across various networkdevices (for example, radio heads and ANCs) or consolidated into asingle network device (for example, a base station 105).

The wireless communications system 100 may operate using one or morefrequency bands, typically in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300gigahertz (GHz). Generally, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is known asthe ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band, since thewavelengths range from approximately one decimeter to one meter inlength. UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings andenvironmental features, but the waves may penetrate structuressufficiently for a macro cell to provide service to UEs 115 locatedindoors. Transmission of UHF waves may be associated with smallerantennas and shorter ranges (for example, less than 100 kilometers)compared to transmission using the smaller frequencies and longer wavesof the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of thespectrum below 300 MHz.

The wireless communications system 100 may utilize both licensed andunlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example, the wirelesscommunications system 100 may employ License Assisted Access (LAA),LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology in anunlicensed band such as the 5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical(ISM) band. When operating in unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands,devices such as base stations 105 and UEs 115 may employ carrier sensingfor collision detection and avoidance. In some examples, operations inunlicensed bands may be based on a carrier aggregation configuration inconjunction with component carriers operating in a licensed band (forexample, LAA). Operations in unlicensed spectrum may include downlinktransmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, D2Dtransmissions, among other examples.

A base station 105 or UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas,which may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity,receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications,or beamforming. The antennas of a base station 105 or UE 115 may belocated within one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels, which maysupport MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example,one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located atan antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some examples,antennas or antenna arrays associated with a base station 105 may belocated in diverse geographic locations. A base station 105 may have anantenna array with a number of rows and columns of antenna ports thatthe base station 105 may use to support beamforming of communicationswith a UE 115. Likewise, a UE 115 may have one or more antenna arraysthat may support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally oralternatively, an antenna panel may support radio frequency beamformingfor a signal transmitted via an antenna port.

Base stations 105 or UEs 115 may use MIMO communications to exploitmultipath signal propagation and increase the spectral efficiency bytransmitting or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers.Such techniques may be referred to as spatial multiplexing. The multiplesignals may, for example, be transmitted by the transmitting device viadifferent antennas or different combinations of antennas. Likewise, themultiple signals may be received by the receiving device via differentantennas or different combinations of antennas. Each of the multiplesignals may be referred to as a separate spatial stream and may carrybits associated with the same data stream (for example, the samecodeword) or different data streams (for example, different codewords).Different spatial layers may be associated with different antenna portsused for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO techniques includesingle-user MIMO (SU-MIMO), in which multiple spatial layers aretransmitted to the same receiving device, and multiple-user MIMO(MU-MIMO), in which multiple spatial layers are transmitted to multipledevices.

Beamforming, which may also be referred to as spatial filtering,directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signalprocessing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or areceiving device (for example, a base station 105 or a UE 115) to shapeor steer an antenna beam (for example, a transmit beam, a receive beam)along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receivingdevice. Beamforming may be achieved by combining the signalscommunicated via antenna elements of an antenna array such that somesignals propagating at particular orientations with respect to anantenna array experience constructive interference while othersexperience destructive interference. The adjustment of signalscommunicated via the antenna elements may include a transmitting deviceor a receiving device applying amplitude offsets, phase offsets, or bothto signals carried via the antenna elements associated with the device.The adjustments associated with each of the antenna elements may bedefined by a beamforming weight set associated with a particularorientation (for example, with respect to the antenna array of thetransmitting device or receiving device, or with respect to some otherorientation).

A base station 105 or UE 115 may use beam sweeping techniques as part ofbeam forming operations. For example, a base station 105 may usemultiple antennas or antenna arrays (for example, antenna panels) toconduct beamforming operations for directional communications with a UE115. Some signals (for example, synchronization signals, referencesignals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may betransmitted by a base station 105 multiple times in differentdirections. For example, the base station 105 may transmit a signalaccording to different beamforming weight sets associated with differentdirections of transmission. Transmissions in different beam directionsmay be used to identify (for example, by a transmitting device, such asa base station 105, or a receiving device, such as a UE 115) a beamdirection for subsequent transmission and reception by the base station105.

Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particularreceiving device, may be transmitted by a base station 105 in a singlebeam direction (for example, a direction associated with the receivingdevice, such as a UE 115). In some examples, the beam directionassociated with transmissions along a single beam direction may bedetermined based on a signal that was transmitted in different beamdirections. For example, a UE 115 may receive one or more of the signalstransmitted by the base station 105 in different directions and mayreport to the base station 105 an indication of the signal that the UE115 received with a highest signal quality, or an otherwise acceptablesignal quality.

In some examples, transmissions by a device (for example, by a basestation 105 or UE 115) may be performed using multiple beam directions,and the device may use a combination of digital precoding or radiofrequency beamforming to generate a combined beam for transmission (forexample, from a base station 105 to a UE 115). The UE 115 may reportfeedback that indicates precoding weights for one or more beamdirections, and the feedback may correspond to a configured number ofbeams across a system bandwidth or one or more sub-bands. The basestation 105 may transmit a reference signal (for example, acell-specific reference signal (CRS), a channel state informationreference signal (CSI-RS)), which may be precoded or unprecoded. The UE115 may provide feedback for beam selection, which may be a precodingmatrix indicator (PMI) or codebook-based feedback (for example, amulti-panel type codebook, a linear combination type codebook, a portselection type codebook). Although these techniques are described withreference to signals transmitted in one or more directions by a basestation 105, a UE 115 may employ similar techniques for transmittingsignals multiple times in different directions (for example, foridentifying a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception bythe UE 115) or for transmitting a signal in a single direction (forexample, for transmitting data to a receiving device).

A receiving device (for example, a UE 115) may try multiple receiveconfigurations (for example, directional listening) when receivingvarious signals from the base station 105, such as synchronizationsignals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other controlsignals. For example, a receiving device may try multiple receivedirections by receiving via different antenna subarrays, by processingreceived signals according to different antenna subarrays, by receivingaccording to different receive beamforming weight sets (for example,different directional listening weight sets) applied to signals receivedat multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, or by processingreceived signals according to different receive beamforming weight setsapplied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antennaarray, any of which may be referred to as “listening” according todifferent receive configurations or receive directions. In someexamples, a receiving device may use a single receive configuration toreceive along a single beam direction (for example, when receiving adata signal). The single receive configuration may be aligned in a beamdirection determined based on listening according to different receiveconfiguration directions (for example, a beam direction determined tohave a highest signal strength, highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), orotherwise acceptable signal quality based on listening according tomultiple beam directions).

The wireless communications system 100 may be a packet-based networkthat operates according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane,communications at the bearer or Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP)layer may be IP-based. A Radio Link Control (RLC) layer may performpacket segmentation and reassembly to communicate over logical channels.A Medium Access Control (MAC) layer may perform priority handling andmultiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layermay also use error detection techniques, error correction techniques, orboth to support retransmissions at the MAC layer to improve linkefficiency. In the control plane, the RRC protocol layer may provideestablishment, configuration, and maintenance of an RRC connectionbetween a UE 115 and a base station 105 or core network 130 supportingradio bearers for user plane data. At the Physical layer, transportchannels may be mapped to physical channels.

UEs 115 and base stations 105 may support retransmissions of data toincrease the likelihood that data is received successfully. Hybridautomatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback is one technique for increasingthe likelihood that data is received correctly over a communication link125. HARQ may include a combination of error detection (for example,using a cyclic redundancy check (CRC)), forward error correction (FEC),and retransmission (for example, automatic repeat request (ARQ)). HARQmay improve throughput at the MAC layer in poor radio conditions (forexample, low signal-to-noise conditions). In some examples, a device maysupport same-slot HARQ feedback, in which the device may provide HARQfeedback in a specific slot for data received in a previous symbol inthe slot. In other examples, the device may provide HARQ feedback in asubsequent slot, or according to some other time interval.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 200that supports multicast communications for RRC modes in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system200 may include a base station 105-a and a UE 115-a within a geographiccoverage area 110-a. The base station 105-a and the UE 115-a may beexamples of the corresponding devices described with reference toFIG. 1. In some examples, the wireless communications system 200 maysupport multiple radio access technologies including 4G systems such asLTE systems, LTE-A systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and 5G systems whichmay be referred to as NR systems. In some examples, the wirelesscommunications system 200 may be a multimedia broadcast multicastservice (MBMS) network or a multimedia broadcast multicast service(MBMS) single frequency network (MBSFN). In some examples, the wirelesscommunications system 200 may implement aspects of the wirelesscommunications system 100. For example, the UE 115-a in the wirelesscommunications system 200 may support multicast communications inaccordance with one or more multicast modes. In some examples, the basestation 105-a may broadcast, to the UE 115-a, multicast communicationsvia one or more directional beams 205 (for example, downlink directionalbeams). As a result, the UE 115-a may support improvements to powerconsumption, spectral efficiency, higher data rates and, in someexamples, may promote enhanced efficiency for high reliability and lowlatency multicast operations, among other benefits.

In the example of FIG. 2, the UE 115-a may support various RRC modes topreserve resources (for example, time and frequency resources of thewireless communications system 200), a battery life of the UE 115-a,among other examples. An RRC mode may include one or more of an RRCconnected mode, an RRC idle mode, and an RRC inactive mode. In the RRCconnected mode, the UE 115-a may have an active connection with the basestation 105-a. While in the RRC connected mode, the UE 115-a may receivefrom or transmit to the base station 105-a multicast service-relatedinformation (for example, a multicast content, a multicast servicerequest, among other examples). Additionally, while in the RRC connectedmode, the base station 105-a may manage mobility and handover of the UE115-a to other cells (for example, other base stations). In the RRC idlemode, the UE 115-a may not have an active connection with the basestation 105-a. The base station 105-a may, however, enable the UE 115-a(for example, via a wakeup signal or another mechanism) to power on andestablish an active connection with the base station 105-a to receivemulticast service-related information, for example, based on having aprevious active connection with the UE 115-a. The RRC inactive mode mayprovide benefits to the base station 105-a and the UE 115-a by reducinga duration to switch the UE 115-a to the RRC connected mode, forexample, from the RRC idle mode. In other words, in the RRC inactivemode, the UE 115-a may be awake and operate under a lower power modecompared to the RRC connected mode, but under a higher power modecompared to the RRC idle mode.

The base station 105-a may, in some examples, configure the UE 115-awith one or more multicast modes that may correspond to one or more ofthe above example RRC modes, for example, an RRC connected mode, an RRCidle mode, or an RRC inactive mode. In some examples, the base station105-a may configure the UE 115-a with a first multicast mode (forexample, a “mode one”) in which the UE 115-a may receive multicastcommunications when exclusively operating in one of the above exampleRRC modes (for example, the RRC connected mode). In some other examples,the base station 105-a may configure the UE 115-a with a secondmulticast mode (for example, a “mode two”) in which the UE 115-a mayreceive multicast communications when operating in any of the RRC modes(for example, the RRC connected mode, the RRC idle mode, or the RRCinactive mode). In some other examples, the base station 105-a mayconfigure the UE 115-a with two or more multicast modes, and the UE115-a may operate in accordance with at least one of the multicast modesor jointly under multiple multicast modes.

In some examples, the base station 105-a may configure the UE 115-a withone or more multicast modes (or multicast configurations) via RRCconfiguration. That is, the base station 105-a may, as part of an RRCprocedure, configure the UE 115-a with one or more of a multicast modeor a set of parameters related to reception and transmission ofmulticast communications. In some examples, the base station 105-a maydetermine a set of RRC parameters for the UE 115-a, which the UE 115-amay use to receive multicast communications (for example, multicastcontent) from the base station 105-a. Examples of one or more RRCparameters may include MIMO related information (for example, a numberof layers, beamforming information, such as a quasi co-location (QCL)assumption or TCI state, among other examples), demodulation referencesignal (DMRS) related information (for example, a DMRS sequencegeneration parameter, a DMRS configuration type, a PDSCH mapping type,among other examples), a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) (forexample, an MCS table), resource allocation (RA) related information(for example, a resource allocation type, enabling or disabling aresource mapping (for example, virtual resource block (VRB) to physicalresource block (PRB) mapping)), enabling or disabling a frequencyhopping scheme, among other examples), a transport block size (TBS)related information (for example, one or more rate matching parameters,an overhead configuration parameter, among other examples), transmissionconfiguration indicator (TCI) state related information, or feedbackrelated information (for example, an ACK, a NACK, or a channel stateinformation (CSI) related parameters, a physical uplink control channel(PUCCH) resource configuration, a PUCCH resource set configuration, abeamforming information (for example, spatial relation information),among other examples), among other examples. The base station 105-a maythus transmit the set of RRC parameters in an RRC message to the UE115-a via UE-dedicated RRC signaling. In some examples, the UE-dedicatedsignaling may include a dedicated physical channel allocated to the UE115-a for uplink communications from the UE 115-a to the base station105-a, and downlink communications from the base station 105-a to the UE115-a.

The base station 105-a may, in some examples, include the set of RRCparameters in a configuration message. In some examples, the basestation 105-a may include the set of RRC parameters in one or more of aserving cell configuration or a BWP configuration, among other examples.Examples of configuration messages related to a multicast mode aredescribed with reference to FIGS. 3-5.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a configuration message 300 thatsupports multicast communications for RRC modes in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The configuration message 300 maysupport aspects of the wireless communications system 200, as describedwith reference to FIG. 2. For example, the configuration message 300 maybe based on a configuration by the base station 105-a or the UE 115-a,and implemented by the UE 115-a. In some examples, the base station105-a may configure the UE 115-a with multiple BWP configurations for aserving cell.

A BWP may be defined as a contiguous set of physical resource blocks(PRBs) on a given carrier. The PRBs may be selected from a contiguoussubset of common resource blocks for a given numerology, which may havea set of different parameters including a subcarrier spacing, a symbolduration, and a cyclic prefix length. In some examples, the base station105-a may configure the UE 115-a with multiple BWPs for downlink anduplink, but at a given point of time only one BWP may be active fordownlink and one for uplink. BWPs may therefore enable the UE 115-a tooperate in narrow bandwidth, but when the UE 115-a demands more data(for example, more multicast traffic), the UE 115-a can inform the UE115-a to activate another BWP with a wider bandwidth. A serving cell maycorrespond to the base station 105-a or another base station (notshown). In some examples, the base station 105-a may support a mobilityof the UE 115-a across different serving cells within a same frequencyor on different frequencies or even on different radio accesstechnologies (for example, 4G systems, 5G systems).

If the UE 115-a is configured by the base station 105-a with multipleBWP configurations for the serving cell (for example, the geographiccoverage area 110-a), the base station 105-a may configure RRCparameters for each BWP configuration, which the UE 115-a may use forreceiving multicast communications. For example, the configurationmessage 300 may include a serving cell configuration 305 and a servingcell index 310, which may identify the serving cell (for example, maycorrespond to a serving cell identifier). The serving cell configuration305 may include multiple BWP configurations including a BWPconfiguration 315-a and a BWP configuration 315-b. The UE 115-a mayidentify each BWP configuration 315 based on a BWP index 320. Forexample, the UE 115-a may identify the BWP configuration 315-a based ona BWP index 320-a associated with the BWP configuration 315-a, and mayalso identify the BWP configuration 315-b based on a BWP index 320-bassociated with the BWP configuration 315-b. In some examples, a BWPconfiguration may be a BWP downlink, a BWP downlink common, or a BWPdownlink dedicated. Similarly, the serving cell configuration 305 may bea serving cell configuration, a serving cell configuration common, or aserving cell configuration dedicated.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, each BWP configuration 315 may have a separateset of parameters 325. That is, each BWP configuration 315 may have aunique set of parameters 325 for receiving multicast communications. Byway of example, the BWP configuration 315-a may have one or moreparameters 325-a, and the BWP configuration 315-b may have one or moreparameters 325-b. In some examples, the BWP configurations 315 may shareone or more common parameters 325 (for example, an MCS, a TBS relatedinformation, among other examples). The UE 115-a may thus receivemulticast communications (for example, multicast content) according tothe configuration for an active BWP.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a configuration message 400 thatsupports multicast communications for RRC modes in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The configuration message 400 maysupport aspects of the wireless communications system 200, as describedwith reference to FIG. 2. For example, the configuration message 400 maybe based on a configuration by the base station 105-a or the UE 115-a,and implemented by the UE 115-a. The configuration message 400 mayinclude a serving cell configuration 405 and a serving cell index 410,which may identify the serving cell (for example, may correspond to aserving cell identifier). The serving cell configuration 405 may includemultiple BWP configurations including a BWP configuration 415-a and aBWP configuration 415-b. The UE 115-a may identify each BWPconfiguration 415 based on a BWP index 420. For example, the UE 115-amay identify the BWP configuration 415-a based on a BWP index 420-aassociated with the BWP configuration 415-a, and may also identify theBWP configuration 415-b based on a BWP index 420-b associated with theBWP configuration 415-b.

As outlined above, in some examples, the base station 105-a mayconfigure the UE 115-a with the multiple BWP configurations 415 for theserving cell. In the example of FIG. 4, however, the base station 105-amay configure one or more parameters 425 (for example, one or more RRCparameters) that may be common for all the BWP configurations 415, whichthe UE 115-a may use for receiving multicast communications.Additionally, in the example of FIG. 4, the base station 105-a mayinclude the one or more parameters 425 as part of the serving cellconfiguration 405. For example, the serving cell configuration 405 mayinclude one or more additional fields, in which the base station 105-amay include (configure) the one or more parameters 425. Thus, even ifthe UE 115-a is configured with more than one BWP configuration 415 forthe serving cell, one or more parameters 425 (for example, one or moreRRC parameters) for receiving multicast communications can be providedfor the serving cell, and the parameters 425 are used for any activeBWP. That is, the UE 115-a may receive multicast communicationsaccording to a BWP configuration 415 for the serving cell regardless ofthe active BWP.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a configuration message 500 thatsupports multicast communications for RRC modes in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The configuration message 500 maysupport aspects of the wireless communications system 200, as describedwith reference to FIG. 2. For example, the configuration message 500 maybe based on a configuration by the base station 105-a or the UE 115-a,and implemented by the UE 115-a. The configuration message 500 mayinclude a serving cell configuration 505 and a serving cell index 510,which may identify the serving cell (for example, may correspond to aserving cell identifier). The serving cell configuration 505 may includemultiple BWP configurations including a BWP configuration 515-a and aBWP configuration 515-b. The UE 115-a may identify each BWPconfiguration 515 based on a BWP index 520. For example, the UE 115-amay identify the BWP configuration 515-a based on a BWP index 520-aassociated with the BWP configuration 515-a, and may also identify theBWP configuration 515-b based on a BWP index 520-b associated with theBWP configuration 515-b.

The configuration message 500 may, in some examples, combine one or moreaspects of a configuration message, as described with reference to FIGS.3 and 4. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, each BWP configuration515 may have a separate set of parameters 525. That is, each BWPconfiguration 515 may have a unique set of parameters 525 for receivingmulticast communications. By way of example, the BWP configuration 515-amay have one or more parameters 525-a, and the BWP configuration 515-bmay have one or more parameters 525-b. In some examples, the BWPconfigurations 515 may share one or more common parameters 525 (forexample, an MCS, a TBS related information, among other examples). TheUE 115-a may thus receive multicast communications (for example,multicast content) according to the configuration for an active BWP.

Additionally, the configuration message 500 may include (configure) oneor more parameters 530 (for example, one or more RRC parameters) as partof the serving cell configuration 505. The one or more parameters 530may be common to the one or more parameters 525 associated with thedifferent BWP configurations 515. Alternatively, the one or moreparameters 530 may be unique compared to the one or more parameters 525associated with the different BWP configurations 515. For example, theone or more parameters 525 (for example, an MCS, a TBS, RA relatedinformation, among other examples) may be different compared to the oneor more parameters 530 (for example, TCI state related information, DMRSrelated information, among other examples).

Thus, in the example of FIG. 5, some parameters can be provided as partof a BWP configuration which are effective only when the BWP is active.In other examples, some parameters can be provided as part of a servingcell configuration which are effective regardless of the active BWP. Insome examples, some of the parameters (for example, one or more of theparameter(s) 525 or the parameter(s) 530) may be commonly applied toboth multicast reception and unicast reception. In some examples, oncethe base station 105-a configures the UE 115-a with one or more of theparameter(s) 525 or the parameter(s) 530, the UE 115-a may apply one ormore of the parameter(s) 525 or the parameter(s) 530 for receiving bothmulticast communications and unicast communications.

Returning to FIG. 2, in some examples, the base station 105-a maytransmit multicast communications (for example, multicast content) via aphysical channel. For example, the base station 105-a may transmit themulticast communications via a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)(also referred to as a multicast PDSCH). In some examples, the basestation 105-a may enable the UE 115-a to receive the multicastcommunications via the multicast PDSCH based on one or more criteria,which may include receiving the multicast communications over an activedownlink BWP.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a BWP configuration 600 that supportsmulticast communications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The BWP configuration 600 may support aspects of thewireless communications system 200, as described with reference to FIG.2. For example, the BWP configuration 600 may be based on aconfiguration by the base station 105-a and implemented by the UE 115-a.In some examples, the base station 105-a may transmit multicastcommunications via a multicast PDSCH 605. The UE 115-a may, in someexamples, receive the multicast communications in a current activedownlink BWP. In the example of FIG. 6, the BWP configuration 600 mayinclude multiple BWPs. For example, the BWP configuration may include aBWP 610 and a BWP 615. The BWP 610 and the BWP 615 may be defined by anumber of time and frequency resources, as described herein.

In some examples, if the multicast PDSCH 605 is not included in anactive downlink BWP (for example, the BWP 615), the UE 115-a may refrainfrom switching the active downlink BWP to another downlink BWP toreceive the multicast PDSCH 605. As a result, the UE 115-a may notreceive multicast communications via the multicast PDSCH 605. In someother examples, if the multicast PDSCH 605 is not included in the activedownlink BWP, the UE 115-a may switch to another downlink BWP in whichthe multicast PDSCH 605 is receivable. For example, the UE 115-a mayswitch from the BWP 615 to the BWP 610 to receive the multicast PDSCH605. In some other examples, the base station 105-a (for example, thenetwork) may ensure that the multicast PDSCH 605 is included in theactive downlink BWP. If it is not, the base station 105-a may indicate aBWP switching to the UE 115-a, so that the multicast PDSCH 605 isincluded in the active downlink BWP. That is, the base station 105-a maytransmit an indication to the UE 115-a to switch BWPs, for example, toswitch from the BWP 615 to the BWP 610 to receive the multicast PDSCH605.

Returning to FIG. 2, in some examples, the base station 105-a mayconfigure one or more search spaces to transmit multicast-relatedcommunications (for example, multicast control information) via aphysical channel. For example, the base station 105-a may configure theone or more search spaces to transmit the multicast-relatedcommunications via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or aPDSCH. In some examples, the base station 105-a may enable the UE 115-ato monitor the one or more search spaces to decode and receive themulticast-related communications via the PDCCH or the PDSCH. In someexamples, the base station 105-a may configure the UE 115-a to monitorthe one or more search spaces in an active BWP (for example, an activedownlink BWP).

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a BWP configuration 700 that supportsmulticast communications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The BWP configuration 700 may support aspects of thewireless communications system 200, as described with reference to FIG.2. For example, the BWP configuration 700 may be based on aconfiguration by the base station 105-a and implemented by the UE 115-a.In some examples, the base station 105-a may transmit multicastcommunications over one or more search spaces. A search space maycorrespond to one or more control regions (for example, one or morecontrol resource sets (CORESET)), which may be for a physical controlchannel (for example, a PDCCH) and may be defined by a number of symbolperiods and may extend across a system bandwidth or a subset of thesystem bandwidth of a carrier (for example, over a set of frequencyresources or subcarriers).

One or more control regions (for example, CORESETs) may be configuredfor multiple UEs that may be subscribed to a multicast service. Forexample, the UE 115-a may monitor or search control regions for controlinformation according to one or more search spaces, and each searchspace may include one or multiple control channel candidates in one ormore aggregation levels arranged in a cascaded manner. An aggregationlevel for a control channel candidate may refer to a number of controlchannel resources (for example, control channel elements (CCEs))associated with encoded information for a control information formathaving a given payload size. The search space may include a commonsearch space configured for sending control information to multiple UEs115 and a UE-specific search space for sending control information to aspecific UE 115 (for example, the UE 115-a).

In the example of FIG. 7, the UE 115-a may monitor a CORESET 705 todecode and receive multicast communications from the base station 105-a.In some examples, the UE 115-a may monitor the CORESET 705 in an activeBWP (for example, an active downlink BWP). In some examples, if theCORESET 705 for the multicast communications is not included in anactive downlink BWP (for example, a BWP 715), the UE 115-a may refrainfrom switching the active downlink BWP to another downlink BWP tomonitor the CORESET 705. That is, the UE 115-a may not be required tomonitor the CORESET 705. In some other examples, if the CORESET 705 forthe multicast communications is not included in the active downlink BWP,the UE 115-a may switch to another downlink BWP in which the UE 115-amay monitor the CORESET 705 for the multicast communications. Forexample, the UE 115-a may switch from the BWP 715 (for example, anactive downlink BWP) to a BWP 710 (which becomes the active downlink BWPfor the UE 115-a). In some other examples, the base station 105-a (forexample, the network) may ensure that the CORESET 705 for the multicastcommunications is included in the active downlink BWP. If it is not, thebase station 105-a may indicate a BWP switching to the UE 115-a, so thatthe CORESET 705 is included in the active downlink BWP. That is, thebase station 105-a may transmit an indication to the UE 115-a to switchBWPs, for example, to switch from the BWP 715 to the BWP 710 to monitorthe CORESET 705 and receive the multicast communications.

Returning to FIG. 2, in some examples, the base station 105-a maytransmit multicast-related communications (for example, multicastcontrol information) via a control signaling. In some examples, thecontrol signaling may include downlink control information (DCI)signaling. The base station 105-a may, in some examples, configure asize (for example, a payload size) of a DCI for the multicast-relatedcommunications to be common among multiple UEs 115 (for example, the UE115-a and other UEs 115 associated with a multicast service). In someexamples, the base station 105-a (or the UE 115-a) may determine thesize of the DCI carrying the multicast-related communications accordingto a configuration of the multicast service. For example, the basestation 105-a (or the UE 115-a) may determine the size of the DCI basedin part on one or more of a BWP size, a resource allocation type, or aDMRS configuration, among other examples. In some other examples, if UEs115 of a multicast service have different configurations (for example,different BWP sizes, different resource allocation types, among otherexamples), each UE 115 may have a different size of DCI. The basestation 105-a may be responsible for handling a DCI size alignment.

In some examples, the base station 105-a may determine the size of theDCI for the multicast-related communications according to aconfiguration for unicast communications. For example, the base station105-a (or the UE 115-a) may determine the size of the DCI based in parton one or more of a BWP size, a resource allocation type, or a DMRSconfiguration, among other examples associated with the unicastcommunications. Similarly, if UEs 115 of a multicast service havedifferent configurations (for example, different BWP sizes or differentresource allocation types, among other examples associated with theunicast communications), each UE 115 may have a different size of DCI.The base station 105-a may also be responsible for handling a DCI sizealignment.

The base station 105-a may, in some examples, configure the size of theDCI for the multicast-related communications based on a default DCIformat. For example, the base station 105-a may configure the size ofthe DCI for the multicast-related communications to be a same size asthe default DCI format. Examples of default DCI formats may include, butare not limited to, a DCI format 0_0 and a DCI format 1_0, among otherexamples. The UE 115-a may, therefore, determine the size of the DCIbased on the default DCI format. In some other examples, the basestation 105-a may configure the size of the DCI for themulticast-related communications via an RRC configuration. That is, avalue of the DCI size may be configured as part of the RRC configurationfor multicast communications. For example, the UE 115-a may determinethe size of the DCI according to an RRC parameter configuring the sizeof the DCI. The UE 115-a may perform blind decoding to decode andreceive a DCI based on the size of the DCI. In some examples, if aparticular field in the DCI has a smaller number of bits (or a largernumber of bits) than a threshold, the UE 115-a may truncate or pad (forexample, zero pad) the field to fulfill the total DCI size.

In some examples, the base station 105-a may configure the UE 115-a tosupport feedback of the multicast communications (for example, ACK/NACKfeedback). For example, the UE 115-a may support the ACK/NACK feedbackwhen operating in an RRC connected mode. The base station 105-a may, insome examples, configure the UE 115-a with one or more RRC parametersfor the ACK/NACK feedback via UE-dedicated RRC signaling. For examples,the base station 105-a may, in some examples, configure the UE 115-awith one or more of a PUCCH resource allocation (for example, PUCCHresource(s), PUCCH resource set(s)), an ACK/NACK codebook, or a PUCCHspatial relation information, among other examples. In some examples,the base station 105-a may include, and the UE 115-a may receive, theone or more RRC parameters in a BWP configuration. The BWP configurationmay be an uplink BWP configuration, which may be paired with a downlinkBWP configuration for reception of the multicast communications.Alternatively, the base station 105-a may include, and the UE 115-a mayreceive, the one or more RRC parameters in a serving cell configuration.Additionally or alternatively, the base station 105-a may include, andthe UE 115-a may receive, the one or more RRC parameters in the BWPconfiguration and the serving cell configuration. In some examples, someof the RRC parameters may be commonly applied to both reception of themulticast communications and reception of unicast communications.

As described herein, the base station 105-a may, in some examples,configure the UE 115-a with a second multicast mode (for example, a“mode two”) in which the UE 115-a may receive multicast communicationswhen operating in at least one RRC mode (for example, the RRC connectedmode, the RRC idle mode, or the RRC inactive mode). Similarly toconfiguring the first multicast mode, the base station 105-a maydetermine a set of RRC parameters for the UE 115-a, which the UE 115-amay use to receive multicast communications (for example, multicastcontent) from the base station 105-a. In some examples, when configuringthe UE 115-a with the second multicast mode, the base station 105-a maytransmit the set of RRC parameters in a message to the UE 115-a viaUE-common RRC signaling. In some examples, the UE-common signaling mayinclude a common physical channel allocated to multiple UEs 115including the UE 115-a. In some examples, the UE-common RRC signalingmay include a system information block (SIB) or a multicast controlchannel (MCCH) carried by a PDSCH. In some examples, the UE 115-a mayreceive one or more of the SIB or the MCCH in a default downlink BWP ofa primary cell (for example, of the base station 105-a). In some otherexamples, the UE 115-a may receive one or more of the SIB or the MCCH inan active downlink BWP, for example, as long as the active downlink BWPhas a same numerology (for example, a subcarrier spacing, a symbolduration) as the default downlink BWP, and the active downlink BWP fullyincludes the default downlink BWP.

In some examples, the base station 105-a may include, and the UE 115-amay receive, the one or more RRC parameters associated with the secondmulticast mode in a BWP configuration of the default downlink BWP.Alternatively, the base station 105-a may include, and the UE 115-a mayreceive, the one or more RRC parameters associated with the secondmulticast mode in a serving cell configuration. In some other examples,the base station 105-a may include, and the UE 115-a may receive, theone or more RRC parameters associated with the second multicast mode inthe BWP configuration and the serving cell configuration. In someexamples, some of the RRC parameters may be commonly applied to bothreception of the multicast communications and reception of unicastcommunications. That is, once the RRC parameters are configured, the UE115-a may apply the RRC parameters for receiving both multicastcommunications and unicast communications.

The base station 105-a may, in some examples, configure a size of a DCIfor multicast-related communications to be common among all UEs 115including the UE 115-a. Similarly to the first multicast modeconfiguration, the base station 105-a may configure the size of the DCIbased on a default DCI format. For example, the base station 105-a mayconfigure the size of the DCI for the multicast-related communicationsto be a same size as the default DCI format. Examples of default DCIformats may include, but are not limited to, a DCI format 0_0 and a DCIformat 1_0, among other examples. In some other examples, the basestation 105-a may configure the size of the DCI for themulticast-related communications according to a parameter configuringthe size of the DCI. That is, a value of the DCI size may be configuredas part of an RRC configuration for multicast communications (forexample, in a SIB or an MCCH). The UE 115-a may perform blind decodingto decode and receive a DCI based on the size of the DCI. In someexamples, if a particular field in the DCI has a smaller number of bits(or a larger number of bits) than a threshold, the UE 115-a may truncateor pad (for example, zero pad) the field to fulfill the total DCI size.

As described herein, in some implementations, the base station 105-a mayconfigure the UE 115-a with both multicast modes (for example, the firstmulticast mode and the second multicast mode), and the UE 115-a mayoperate in accordance with at least one of the multicast modes orjointly under both multicast modes. In some examples, if the UE 115-a isconfigured with the first multicast mode on and the second multicastmode, the UE 115-a may manage operating in accordance with at least oneof the multicast modes or both based on one or more criteria. Forexample, if the UE 115-a receives multicast communications according toa configuration for the second multicast mode, the UE 115-a may overridethe second multicast mode with the first multicast mode. In someexamples, the UE 115-a may override the second multicast mode with thefirst multicast mode when a collision happens, for example, in timingbetween monitoring for the multicast communications according to boththe first multicast mode and the second multicast mode. Alternatively,the UE 115-a may exclusively monitor for the multicast communicationsaccording to the first multicast mode (with a configured time window).In some other examples, the UE 115-a may receive the multicastcommunications jointly according to both the first multicast mode andthe second multicast mode.

The base station 105-a may therefore configure the UE 115-a to supportmulticast communications in accordance with one or more multicast modeswhen operating under an RRC mode (for example, an RRC connected mode, anRRC idle mode, or an RRC inactive mode). The base station 105-a and theUE 115-a thus support one or more features for improvements to powerconsumption, spectral efficiency, higher data rates and, in someexamples, may promote enhanced efficiency for multicast operations,among other benefits.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a process flow 800 that supportsmulticast communications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The process flow 800 may support aspects of thewireless communications system 100 and 200, as described with referenceto FIGS. 1 and 2. For example, the process flow 800 may be based on aconfiguration by a base station 105 or a UE 115, and implemented by theUE 115. The process flow 800 may involve a base station 105-b and a UE115-b, which may be examples of base stations 105 and UEs 115,respectively, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In thefollowing description of the process flow 800, the operations performedby the base station 105-b and the UE 115-b may be performed in differentorders or at different times. Some operations may also be omitted fromthe process flow 800, and other operations may be added to the processflow 800.

At 805, the base station 105-b may identify one or more multicast modesof a set of multicast modes associated with one or more RRC states. At810, the base station 105-b may transmit a set of multicastconfigurations to the UE 115-b. At 815, the UE 115-b may receive a setof multicast configurations for the set of multicast modes. At 820, theUE 115-b may identify an RRC state. For example, the UE 115-b mayidentify an RRC state that the UE 115-b is operating under, such as anRRC idle state or an RRC connected state. At 825, the UE 115-b mayidentify a multicast configuration based on the RRC state. At 830, thebase station 105-b may transmit multicast data to the UE 115-b. At 835,the UE 115-b may receive the multicast data from the base station 105-b.For example, the UE 115-b may receive the multicast data, whileoperating according to the RRC state, as well as according to themulticast configuration.

The operations performed by base station 105-b and the UE 115-b as partof, but not limited to, the process flow 800 may provide improvements tomulticast communications. Furthermore, the operations performed by thebase station 105-b and the UE 115-b as part of, but not limited to, theprocess flow 800 may provide benefits and enhancements to the operationof the UE 115-b. For example, by configuring the UE 115-b with one ormore multicast modes that may correspond to one or more RRC modes maysupport improvements to power consumption, spectral efficiency, higherdata rates and, in some examples, may promote enhanced efficiency formulticast operations, among other benefits.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of a device 905 that supports multicastcommunications for RRC control modes in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The device 905 may be an example of aspects of a UE115 as described herein. The device 905 may include a receiver 910, a UEcommunications manager 915, and a transmitter 920. The UE communicationsmanager 915 can be implemented, at least in part, by one or both of amodem and a processor. Each of these components may be in communicationwith one another (for example, via one or more buses).

The receiver 910 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (forexample, control channels, data channels, and information related tomulticast communications for RRC modes). Information may be passed on toother components of the device 905. The receiver 910 may be an exampleof aspects of the transceiver 1220 described with reference to FIG. 12.The receiver 910 may utilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

The UE communications manager 915 may receive signaling indicating a setof multicast configurations for a set of multicast modes supported bythe UE, each multicast mode of the set of multicast modes beingassociated with one or more RRC states, identify an RRC state of the UE,determine a multicast configuration of the set of multicastconfigurations based on the RRC state according to which the UE isoperating, and receive, while operating according to the RRC state,multicast data according to the determined multicast configuration.

The UE communications manager 915 may be implemented as an integratedcircuit or chipset for the device 905 modem, and the receiver 910 andthe transmitter 920 may be implemented as analog components (forexample, amplifiers, filters, antennas) coupled with the device 905modem to enable wireless transmission and reception. The UEcommunications manager 915 may be implemented to realize one or morepotential improvements. At least one implementation may enable the UEcommunications manager 915 to receive multicast data when operatingaccording to various RRC modes. Based on implementing the receiving, oneor more processors of the device 905 (for example, processor(s)controlling or incorporated with the UE communications manager 915) maypromote improvements to power consumption, spectral efficiency, higherdata rates and, in some examples, may promote enhanced efficiency formulticast operations, among other benefits.

The transmitter 920 may transmit signals generated by other componentsof the device 905. In some examples, the transmitter 920 may becollocated with a receiver 910 in a transceiver module. For example, thetransmitter 920 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1220described with reference to FIG. 12. The transmitter 920 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of a device 1005 that supports multicastcommunications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. The device 1005 may be an example of aspects of a device905, or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 1005 may include areceiver 1010, a UE communications manager 1015, and a transmitter 1035.The UE communications manager 1015 can be implemented, at least in part,by one or both of a modem and a processor. Each of these components maybe in communication with one another (for example, via one or morebuses).

The receiver 1010 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (forexample, control channels, data channels, and information related tomulticast communications for RRC modes). Information may be passed on toother components of the device 1005. The receiver 1010 may be an exampleof aspects of the transceiver 1220 described with reference to FIG. 12.The receiver 1010 may utilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

The UE communications manager 1015 may include a configuration component1020, a state component 1025, and a data component 1030.

The configuration component 1020 may receive signaling indicating a setof multicast configurations for a set of multicast modes supported bythe UE, each multicast mode of the set of multicast modes beingassociated with one or more RRC states and determine a multicastconfiguration of the set of multicast configurations based on an RRCstate according to which the UE is operating. The state component 1025may identify the RRC state of the UE. The data component 1030 mayreceive, while operating according to the RRC state, multicast dataaccording to the determined multicast configuration.

The transmitter 1035 may transmit signals generated by other componentsof the device 1005. In some examples, the transmitter 1035 may becollocated with a receiver 1010 in a transceiver module. For example,the transmitter 1035 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver1220 described with reference to FIG. 12. The transmitter 1035 mayutilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram of a UE communications manager 1105 thatsupports multicast communications for RRC modes in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The UE communications manager 1105may be an example of aspects of a UE communications manager 915, a UEcommunications manager 1015, or a UE communications manager 1210described herein. The UE communications manager 1105 may include aconfiguration component 1110, a state component 1115, a data component1120, a BWP component 1125, a cell component 1130, a resource component1135, and a conflict component 1140. Each of these modules maycommunicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (for example, viaone or more buses).

The configuration component 1110 may receive signaling indicating a setof multicast configurations for a set of multicast modes supported bythe UE, each multicast mode of the set of multicast modes beingassociated with one or more RRC states. In some examples, theconfiguration component 1110 may determine a multicast configuration ofthe set of multicast configurations based on an RRC state according towhich the UE is operating. In some examples, the configuration component1110 may receive signaling indicating the multicast configuration inUE-dedicated signaling. In some implementations, the configurationcomponent 1110 may determine that the multicast configuration isassociated with a first multicast mode of the set of multicast modesbased on the signaling indicating the multicast configuration beingreceived in UE-dedicated signaling. In some examples, the configurationcomponent 1110 may receive signaling indicating the multicastconfiguration in signaling common to a set of UEs that include the UE.In some implementations, the configuration component 1110 may determinethat the multicast configuration is associated with a first multicastmode of the set of multicast modes based on the signaling indicating themulticast configuration being received in signaling common to the set ofUEs.

In some examples, the configuration component 1110 may receive values ofone or more parameters of the multicast configuration in one or more BWPconfigurations (for example, BWP-Downlink, BWP-Downlink, orBWP-DownlinkDedicated), or a serving cell configuration (for example,ServingCellConfig, ServingCellConfigCommon, orServingCellConfigDedicated), or a combination thereof. In someimplementations, the multicast configuration includes values of one ormore parameters of a multiple input multiple output relatedconfiguration, a demodulation reference signal related configuration, amodulation and coding scheme related configuration, a resourceallocation related configuration, a transport block size relatedconfiguration, an acknowledgment feedback related configuration, or achannel state information feedback configuration. In some examples, theone or more parameters include parameters for the UE to provideacknowledgment feedback for the multicast data. In some examples, afirst multicast mode of the set of multicast modes is associated with anRRC connected state, and a second multicast mode of the set of multicastmodes is associated with the RRC connected state, an RRC idle state, andan RRC inactive state; or the first multicast mode is associated withthe RRC connected state, the RRC idle state, and the RRC inactive state,and the second multicast mode is associated with the RRC connectedstate.

The state component 1115 may identify an RRC state of the UE.

The data component 1120 may receive, while operating according to theRRC state, multicast data according to the determined multicastconfiguration. In some examples, the data component 1120 may receive,while operating according to the RRC state, first multicast data of themulticast data according to the determined multicast configuration andsecond multicast data of the multicast data according to a secondmulticast configuration of the set of multicast configurations. The BWPcomponent 1125 may receive a first set of values of the one or moreparameters for a first BWP configured at the UE. In some examples, theBWP component 1125 may receive a second set of values of the one or moreparameters for a second BWP configured at the UE. In some examples, theBWP component 1125 may receive a set of values of the one or moreparameters, the set of values applicable to each of a set of BWP sconfigured at the UE. In some examples, the BWP component 1125 mayreceive the values of a first parameter of the one or more parameters inthe one or more BWP configurations. In some examples, the BWP component1125 may identify an active BWP for the UE.

In some examples, the BWP component 1125 may determine a value of thefirst parameter in the one or more BWP configurations corresponding tothe active BWP. In some examples, the BWP component 1125 may determine avalue of the second parameter in the serving cell configurationregardless of the active BWP. In some examples, the BWP component 1125may operate the UE in the active BWP according to the determined valueof the first parameter and the determined value of the second parameter.In some examples, the BWP component 1125 may identify a multicast signalto be transmitted to the UE in a first BWP. In some examples, the BWPcomponent 1125 may determine that a second BWP different than the firstBWP is active for the UE.

In some examples, the BWP component 1125 may refrain from receiving themulticast signal based on determining that the second BWP is active forthe UE. In some examples, the BWP component 1125 may switch the firstBWP to active to receive the multicast signal based on identifying themulticast signal. In some examples, the BWP component 1125 may monitor afirst BWP of a primary cell for the multicast configuration, the firstBWP different than an active BWP of the UE.

In some examples, the BWP component 1125 may receive, in the first BWP,the multicast configuration based on the monitoring. In some examples,the BWP component 1125 may monitor an active BWP of the UE for themulticast configuration. In some examples, the BWP component 1125 mayreceive, in the active BWP, the multicast configuration based on themonitoring.

The cell component 1130 may receive the values of a second parameter ofthe one or more parameters in the serving cell configuration. Theresource component 1135 may identify a control resource set in a firstBWP, the control resource set for control information for multicasttransmissions for the UE. In some examples, the resource component 1135may determine that a second BWP different than the first BWP is activefor the UE. In some examples, the resource component 1135 may refrainfrom monitoring the identified control resource set based on determiningthat the second BWP is active for the UE. In some examples, the resourcecomponent 1135 may switch the first BWP to active to monitor theidentified control resource set based on identifying the controlresource set. The conflict component 1140 may identify, for the RRCstate, a conflict between a first value for a parameter indicated by thedetermined multicast configuration and a second value for the parameterindicated by a second multicast configuration of the set of multicastconfigurations. In some examples, the conflict component 1140 may selectbetween the first value and the second value for the parameter accordingto a configuration selection rule.

FIG. 12 shows a diagram of a system including a device 1205 thatsupports multicast communications for RRC modes in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The device 1205 may be an example ofor include the components of device 905, device 1005, or a UE 115 asdescribed herein. The device 1205 may include components forbi-directional voice and data communications including components fortransmitting and receiving communications, including a UE communicationsmanager 1210, an I/O controller 1215, a transceiver 1220, an antenna1225, memory 1230, and a processor 1240. These components may be inelectronic communication via one or more buses (for example, bus 1245).

The UE communications manager 1210 may receive signaling indicating aset of multicast configurations for a set of multicast modes supportedby the UE, each multicast mode of the set of multicast modes beingassociated with one or more RRC states, identify an RRC state of the UE,determine a multicast configuration of the set of multicastconfigurations based on the RRC state, and receive, while operatingaccording to the RRC state, multicast data according to the determinedmulticast configuration. At least one implementation may enable the UEcommunications manager 1210 to receive multicast data when operatingaccording to various RRC modes. Based on implementing the receiving, oneor more processors of the device 1205 (for example, processor(s)controlling or incorporated with the UE communications manager 1210) maypromote improvements to power consumption, spectral efficiency, higherdata rates and, in some examples, may promote enhanced efficiency formulticast operations, among other benefits.

The I/O controller 1215 may manage input and output signals for thedevice 1205. The I/O controller 1215 may also manage peripherals notintegrated into the device 1205. In some examples, the I/O controller1215 may represent a physical connection or port to an externalperipheral. In some examples, the I/O controller 1215 may utilize anoperating system such as iOS®, ANDROID®, MS-DOS®, MS-WINDOWS®, OS/2®,UNIX®, LINUX®, or another known operating system. In other examples, theI/O controller 1215 may represent or interact with a modem, a keyboard,a mouse, a touchscreen, or a similar device. In some examples, the I/Ocontroller 1215 may be implemented as part of a processor. In someexamples, a user may interact with the device 1205 via the I/Ocontroller 1215 or via hardware components controlled by the I/Ocontroller 1215.

The transceiver 1220 may communicate bi-directionally, via one or moreantennas, wired, or wireless links as described above. For example, thetransceiver 1220 may represent a wireless transceiver and maycommunicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. Thetransceiver 1220 may also include a modem to modulate the packets andprovide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission, and todemodulate packets received from the antennas. In some examples, thedevice 1205 may include a single antenna 1225. However, in some examplesthe device 1205 may have more than one antenna 1225, which may becapable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wirelesstransmissions.

The memory 1230 may include random-access memory (RAM) and read-onlymemory (ROM). The memory 1230 may store computer-readable,computer-executable code 1235 including instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the processor to perform various functions describedherein. In some examples, the memory 1230 may contain, among otherthings, a basic input/output system (BIOS) which may control basichardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheralcomponents or devices.

The processor 1240 may include an intelligent hardware device, (forexample, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP),a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, a field-programmable gate array(FPGA), a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logiccomponent, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof).In some examples, the processor 1240 may be configured to operate amemory array using a memory controller. In other examples, a memorycontroller may be integrated into the processor 1240. The processor 1240may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in amemory (for example, the memory 1230) to cause the device 1205 toperform various functions (for example, functions or tasks supportingmulticast communications for RRC modes).

The code 1235 may include instructions to implement aspects of thepresent disclosure, including instructions to support wirelesscommunications. The code 1235 may be stored in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium such as system memory or other type of memory.In some examples, the code 1235 may not be directly executable by theprocessor 1240 but may cause a computer (for example, when compiled andexecuted) to perform functions described herein.

FIG. 13 shows a block diagram of a device 1305 that supports multicastcommunications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. The device 1305 may be an example of aspects of a basestation 105 as described herein. The device 1305 may include a receiver1310, a base station communications manager 1315, and a transmitter1320. The base station communications manager 1315 can be implemented,at least in part, by one or both of a modem and a processor. Each ofthese components may be in communication with one another (for example,via one or more buses).

The receiver 1310 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (forexample, control channels, data channels, and information related tomulticast communications for RRC modes). Information may be passed on toother components of the device 1305. The receiver 1310 may be an exampleof aspects of the transceiver 1620 described with reference to FIG. 16.The receiver 1310 may utilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

The base station communications manager 1315 may identify, for a UE, afirst multicast mode of a set of multicast modes supported by the basestation, each multicast mode of the set of multicast modes associatedwith one or more RRC states, transmit, to the UE, a multicastconfiguration according to the first multicast mode, and transmit, tothe UE, multicast data according to the transmitted multicastconfiguration.

The transmitter 1320 may transmit signals generated by other componentsof the device 1305. In some examples, the transmitter 1320 may becollocated with a receiver 1310 in a transceiver module. For example,the transmitter 1320 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver1620 described with reference to FIG. 16. The transmitter 1320 mayutilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 14 shows a block diagram of a device 1405 that supports multicastcommunications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. The device 1405 may be an example of aspects of a device1305, or a base station 105 as described herein. The device 1405 mayinclude a receiver 1410, a base station communications manager 1415, anda transmitter 1435. The base station communications manager 1415 can beimplemented, at least in part, by one or both of a modem and aprocessor. Each of these components may be in communication with oneanother (for example, via one or more buses).

The receiver 1410 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (forexample, control channels, data channels, and information related tomulticast communications for RRC modes). Information may be passed on toother components of the device 1405. The receiver 1410 may be an exampleof aspects of the transceiver 1620 described with reference to FIG. 16.The receiver 1410 may utilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

The base station communications manager 1415 may include a statecomponent 1420, a configuration component 1425, and a data component1430.

The state component 1420 may identify, for a UE, a first multicast modeof a set of multicast modes supported by the base station, eachmulticast mode of the set of multicast modes associated with one or moreRRC states. The configuration component 1425 may transmit, to the UE, amulticast configuration according to the first multicast mode. The datacomponent 1430 may transmit, to the UE, multicast data according to thetransmitted multicast configuration.

The transmitter 1435 may transmit signals generated by other componentsof the device 1405. In some examples, the transmitter 1435 may becollocated with a receiver 1410 in a transceiver module. For example,the transmitter 1435 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver1620 described with reference to FIG. 16. The transmitter 1435 mayutilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 15 shows a block diagram of a base station communications manager1505 that supports multicast communications for RRC modes in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure. The base station communicationsmanager 1505 may be an example of aspects of a base stationcommunications manager 1315, a base station communications manager 1415,or a base station communications manager 1610 described herein. The basestation communications manager 1505 may include a state component 1510,a configuration component 1515, a data component 1520, a BWP component1525, and a resource component 1530. Each of these modules maycommunicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (for example, viaone or more buses).

The state component 1510 may identify, for a UE, a first multicast modeof a set of multicast modes supported by the base station, eachmulticast mode of the set of multicast modes associated with one or moreRRC states. In some examples, the state component 1510 may identify thatthe UE is to operate according to the first multicast mode to receivethe multicast data based on the transmission of the multicastconfiguration according to the first multicast mode includes signalingthe multicast configuration in UE-dedicated signaling. In some examples,the state component 1510 may identify that the UE is to operateaccording to the first multicast mode to receive the multicast databased on the transmission of the multicast configuration according tothe first multicast mode includes signaling the multicast configurationin signaling common to a set of UEs, including the UE.

The configuration component 1515 may transmit, to the UE, a multicastconfiguration according to the first multicast mode. The data component1520 may transmit, to the UE, multicast data according to thetransmitted multicast configuration. The BWP component 1525 may identifya first BWP that is active for the UE, in which the transmission of themulticast configuration according to the first multicast mode includessignaling the multicast configuration to identify that the multicastdata is to be transmitted in the first BWP. In some examples, the BWPcomponent 1525 may identify that the multicast data is to be transmittedin the first BWP. In some examples, the BWP component 1525 may identifya second BWP different than the first BWP that is active for the UE. Insome examples, the BWP component 1525 may transmit, to the UE, anindication that the UE is to switch from the second BWP being active tothe first BWP being active, in which the identification of the first BWPbeing active for the UE is based on transmitting the indication. In someexamples, the BWP component 1525 may identify a first BWP that is activefor the UE, in which the multicast configuration identifies a controlresource set in the first BWP. In some examples, the BWP component 1525may identify that a second BWP for the UE is active. The resourcecomponent 1530 may identify that control signaling for the multicastdata is to be transmitted in the control resource set in the first BWP.

FIG. 16 shows a diagram of a system including a device 1605 thatsupports multicast communications for RRC modes in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The device 1605 may be an example ofor include the components of device 1305, device 1405, or a base station105 as described herein. The device 1605 may include components forbi-directional voice and data communications including components fortransmitting and receiving communications, including a base stationcommunications manager 1610, a network communications manager 1615, atransceiver 1620, an antenna 1625, memory 1630, a processor 1640, and aninter-station communications manager 1645. These components may be inelectronic communication via one or more buses (for example, bus 1650).

The base station communications manager 1610 may identify, for a UE, afirst multicast mode of a set of multicast modes supported by the basestation, each multicast mode of the set of multicast modes associatedwith one or more RRC states, transmit, to the UE, a multicastconfiguration according to the first multicast mode, and transmit, tothe UE, multicast data according to the transmitted multicastconfiguration.

The network communications manager 1615 may manage communications withthe core network (for example, via one or more wired backhaul links).For example, the network communications manager 1615 may manage thetransfer of data communications for client devices, such as one or moreUEs 115.

The transceiver 1620 may communicate bi-directionally, via one or moreantennas, wired, or wireless links as described above. For example, thetransceiver 1620 may represent a wireless transceiver and maycommunicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. Thetransceiver 1620 may also include a modem to modulate the packets andprovide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission, and todemodulate packets received from the antennas. In some examples, thedevice 1605 may include a single antenna 1625. However, in some examplesthe device 1605 may have more than one antenna 1625, which may becapable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wirelesstransmissions.

The memory 1630 may include RAM, ROM, or a combination thereof. Thememory 1630 may store computer-readable code 1635 including instructionsthat, when executed by a processor (for example, the processor 1640)cause the device to perform various functions described herein. In someexamples, the memory 1630 may contain, among other things, a BIOS whichmay control basic hardware or software operation such as the interactionwith peripheral components or devices.

The processor 1640 may include an intelligent hardware device, (forexample, a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller,an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate ortransistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or anycombination thereof). In some examples, the processor 1640 may beconfigured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In someexamples, a memory controller may be integrated into processor 1640. Theprocessor 1640 may be configured to execute computer-readableinstructions stored in a memory (for example, the memory 1630) to causethe device 1605 to perform various functions (for example, functions ortasks supporting multicast communications for RRC modes).

The inter-station communications manager 1645 may manage communicationswith other base station 105, and may include a controller or schedulerfor controlling communications with UEs 115 in cooperation with otherbase stations 105. For example, the inter-station communications manager1645 may coordinate scheduling for transmissions to UEs 115 for variousinterference mitigation techniques such as beamforming or jointtransmission. In some examples, the inter-station communications manager1645 may provide an X2 interface within an LTE/LTE-A wirelesscommunication network technology to provide communication between basestations 105.

The code 1635 may include instructions to implement aspects of thepresent disclosure, including instructions to support wirelesscommunications. The code 1635 may be stored in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium such as system memory or other type of memory.In some examples, the code 1635 may not be directly executable by theprocessor 1640 but may cause a computer (for example, when compiled andexecuted) to perform functions described herein.

FIG. 17 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1700 that supportsmulticast communications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations of method 1700 may be implemented bya UE 115 or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1700 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 9-12. In some examples, a UE mayexecute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of theUE to perform the functions described below. Additionally oralternatively, a UE may perform aspects of the functions described belowusing special-purpose hardware.

In block 1705, the UE may receive signaling indicating a set ofmulticast configurations for a set of multicast modes supported by theUE, each multicast mode of the set of multicast modes being associatedwith one or more RRC states. The operations of 1705 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects ofthe operations of 1705 may be performed by a configuration component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9-12.

In block 1710, the UE may determine a multicast configuration of the setof multicast configurations based on an RRC state according to which theUE is operating. The operations of 1715 may be performed according tothe methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 1715 may be performed by a configuration component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9-12.

In block 1715, the UE may receive, while operating according to the RRCstate, multicast data according to the determined multicastconfiguration. The operations of 1720 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of1720 may be performed by a data component as described with reference toFIGS. 9-12.

FIG. 18 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1800 that supportsmulticast communications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations of method 1800 may be implemented bya UE 115 or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1800 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 9-12. In some examples, a UE mayexecute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of theUE to perform the functions described below. Additionally oralternatively, a UE may perform aspects of the functions described belowusing special-purpose hardware.

In block 1805, the UE may receive signaling indicating a set ofmulticast configurations for a set of multicast modes supported by theUE, each multicast mode of the set of multicast modes being associatedwith one or more RRC states. The operations of 1805 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects ofthe operations of 1805 may be performed by a configuration component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9-12.

In block 1810, the UE may receive signaling indicating a multicastconfiguration of the set of multicast configurations in UE-dedicatedsignaling. In some examples, the UE may determine that the multicastconfiguration is associated with a first multicast mode of the set ofmulticast modes based on the signaling indicating the multicastconfiguration being received in the UE-dedicated signaling. Theoperations of 1810 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1810 may beperformed by a configuration component as described with reference toFIGS. 9-12.

In block 1815, the UE may determine a multicast configuration of the setof multicast configurations based on an RRC state according to which theUE is operating. The operations of 1820 may be performed according tothe methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 1820 may be performed by a configuration component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9-12.

In block 1820, the UE may receive, while operating according to the RRCstate, multicast data according to the determined multicastconfiguration. The operations of 1825 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of1825 may be performed by a data component as described with reference toFIGS. 9-12.

FIG. 19 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1900 that supportsmulticast communications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations of method 1900 may be implemented bya UE 115 or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1900 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 9-12. In some examples, a UE mayexecute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of theUE to perform the functions described below. Additionally oralternatively, a UE may perform aspects of the functions described belowusing special-purpose hardware.

In block 1905, the UE may receive a set of multicast configurations fora set of multicast modes supported by the UE, each multicast mode of theset of multicast modes associated with one or more RRC states. Theoperations of 1905 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1905 may beperformed by a configuration component as described with reference toFIGS. 9-12.

In block 1910, the UE may receive signaling indicating a multicastconfiguration of the set of multicast configurations in signaling commonto a set of UEs that includes the UE. In some examples, the UE maydetermine that the multicast configuration is associated with a firstmulticast mode of the set of multicast modes based on the signalingindicating the multicast configuration being received in signalingcommon to the set of UEs. The operations of 1910 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects ofthe operations of 1910 may be performed by a configuration component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9-12.

In block 1915, the UE may determine a multicast configuration of the setof multicast configurations based on an RRC state according to which theUE is operating. The operations of 1920 may be performed according tothe methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 1920 may be performed by a configuration component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9-12.

In block 1920, the UE may receive, while operating according to the RRCstate, multicast data according to the determined multicastconfiguration. The operations of 1925 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of1925 may be performed by a data component as described with reference toFIGS. 9-12.

FIG. 20 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2000 that supportsmulticast communications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations of method 2000 may be implemented bya base station 105 or its components as described herein. For example,the operations of method 2000 may be performed by a communicationsmanager as described with reference to FIGS. 13-16. In some examples, abase station may execute a set of instructions to control the functionalelements of the base station to perform the functions described below.Additionally or alternatively, a base station may perform aspects of thefunctions described below using special-purpose hardware.

In block 2005, the base station may identify, for a UE, a firstmulticast mode of a set of multicast modes supported by the basestation, each multicast mode of the set of multicast modes associatedwith one or more RRC states. The operations of 2005 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects ofthe operations of 2005 may be performed by a state component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 13-16.

In block 2010, the base station may transmit, to the UE, signalingindicating a multicast configuration according to the first multicastmode. The operations of 2010 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2010may be performed by a configuration component as described withreference to FIGS. 13-16.

In block 2015, the base station may transmit, to the UE, multicast dataaccording to the transmitted multicast configuration. The operations of2015 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 2015 may be performed by a datacomponent as described with reference to FIGS. 13-16.

FIG. 21 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2100 that supportsmulticast communications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations of method 2100 may be implemented bya base station 105 or its components as described herein. For example,the operations of method 2100 may be performed by a communicationsmanager as described with reference to FIGS. 13-16. In some examples, abase station may execute a set of instructions to control the functionalelements of the base station to perform the functions described below.Additionally or alternatively, a base station may perform aspects of thefunctions described below using special-purpose hardware.

In block 2105, the base station may identify, for a UE, a firstmulticast mode of a set of multicast modes supported by the basestation, each multicast mode of the set of multicast modes associatedwith one or more RRC states. The operations of 2105 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects ofthe operations of 2105 may be performed by a state component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 13-16.

In block 2110, the base station may identify that the UE is to operateaccording to the first multicast mode to receive the multicast data,where the transmission of the signaling indicating the multicastconfiguration according to the first multicast mode includes signalingthe multicast configuration in UE-dedicated signaling. The operations of2110 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 2110 may be performed by a statecomponent as described with reference to FIGS. 13-16.

In block 2115, the base station may transmit, to the UE, a multicastconfiguration according to the first multicast mode. The operations of2115 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 2115 may be performed by aconfiguration component as described with reference to FIGS. 13-16.

In block 2120, the base station may transmit, to the UE, multicast dataaccording to the transmitted multicast configuration. The operations of2120 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 2120 may be performed by a datacomponent as described with reference to FIGS. 13-16.

FIG. 22 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2200 that supportsmulticast communications for RRC modes in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations of method 2200 may be implemented bya base station 105 or its components as described herein. For example,the operations of method 2200 may be performed by a communicationsmanager as described with reference to FIGS. 13-16. In some examples, abase station may execute a set of instructions to control the functionalelements of the base station to perform the functions described below.Additionally or alternatively, a base station may perform aspects of thefunctions described below using special-purpose hardware.

In block 2205, the base station may identify, for a UE, a firstmulticast mode of a set of multicast modes supported by the basestation, each multicast mode of the set of multicast modes associatedwith one or more RRC states. The operations of 2205 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects ofthe operations of 2205 may be performed by a state component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 13-16.

In block 2210, the base station may identify that the UE is to operateaccording to the first multicast mode to receive the multicast data,where the transmission of the signaling indicating the multicastconfiguration according to the first multicast mode includes signalingthe multicast configuration in signaling common to a set of UEs,including the UE. The operations of 2210 may be performed according tothe methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 2210 may be performed by a state component as describedwith reference to FIGS. 13-16.

In block 2215, the base station may transmit, to the UE, a multicastconfiguration according to the first multicast mode. The operations of2215 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 2215 may be performed by aconfiguration component as described with reference to FIGS. 13-16.

In block 2220, the base station may transmit, to the UE, multicast dataaccording to the transmitted multicast configuration. The operations of2220 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 2220 may be performed by a datacomponent as described with reference to FIGS. 13-16.

It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possibleimplementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearrangedor otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible.Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.

Although aspects of an LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR system may bedescribed for purposes of example, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NRterminology may be used in much of the description, the techniquesdescribed herein are applicable beyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NRnetworks. For example, the described techniques may be applicable tovarious other wireless communications systems such as Ultra MobileBroadband (UMB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, aswell as other systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentionedherein.

Information and signals described herein may be represented using any ofa variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data,instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chipsthat may be referenced throughout the description may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and modules described in connection withthe disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, an FPGA or otherprogrammable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discretehardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform thefunctions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be amicroprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be anyconventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. Aprocessor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices(for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiplemicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to thenature of software, functions described herein may be implemented usingsoftware executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, orcombinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may alsobe physically located at various positions, including being distributedsuch that portions of functions are implemented at different physicallocations.

Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storagemedia and communication media including any medium that facilitatestransfer of a computer program from one place to another. Anon-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may beaccessed by a general-purpose or special purpose computer. By way ofexample, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media mayinclude RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flashmemory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othernon-transitory medium that may be used to carry or store desired programcode means in the form of instructions or data structures and that maybe accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or ageneral-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection isproperly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the softwareis transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using acoaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line(DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave,then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, orwireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave areincluded in the definition of computer-readable medium. Disk and disc,as used herein, include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatiledisc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproducedata magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above are also included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items(for example, a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least oneof” or “one or more of”) indicates an inclusive list such that, forexample, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB orAC or BC or ABC (in other words, A and B and C). Also, as used herein,the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closedset of conditions. For example, an example step that is described as“based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and acondition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construedin the same manner as the phrase “based at least in part on.”

In the appended figures, similar components or features may have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type maybe distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label, or othersubsequent reference label.

The description set forth herein, in connection with the appendeddrawings, describes example configurations and does not represent allthe examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of theclaims. The term “example” used herein means “serving as an example,instance, or illustration,” and not “preferred” or “advantageous overother examples.” The detailed description includes specific details forthe purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques.These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specificdetails. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shownin block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of thedescribed examples.

The description herein is provided to enable a person skilled in the artto make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosurewill be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the genericprinciples defined herein may be applied to other variations withoutdeparting from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is notlimited to the examples and designs described herein, but is to beaccorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novelfeatures disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for wireless communication at a userequipment (UE), comprising: receiving signaling indicating a pluralityof multicast configurations for a plurality of multicast modes supportedby the UE, each multicast mode of the plurality of multicast modes beingassociated with one or more radio resource control (RRC) states;determining a multicast configuration of the plurality of multicastconfigurations based at least in part on an RRC state according to whichthe UE is operating; and receiving, while operating according to the RRCstate, multicast data according to the determined multicastconfiguration.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the signalingindicating the plurality of multicast configurations comprises:receiving signaling indicating the multicast configuration inUE-dedicated signaling, the method further comprising: determining thatthe multicast configuration is associated with a first multicast mode ofthe plurality of multicast modes based at least in part on the signalingindicating the multicast configuration being received in UE-dedicatedsignaling.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the signalingindicating the plurality of multicast configurations comprises:receiving signaling indicating the multicast configuration in signalingcommon to a plurality of UEs that include the UE, the method furthercomprising: determining that the multicast configuration is associatedwith a first multicast mode of the plurality of multicast modes based atleast in part on the signaling indicating the multicast configurationbeing received in signaling common to the plurality of UEs.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the multicast configuration comprises valuesof one or more parameters of a multiple input multiple output relatedconfiguration, a demodulation reference signal related configuration, amodulation and coding scheme related configuration, a resourceallocation related configuration, a transport block size relatedconfiguration, an acknowledgment feedback related configuration, or achannel state information feedback configuration.
 5. The method of claim1, wherein receiving the signaling indicating the plurality of multicastconfigurations comprises receiving values of one or more parameters ofthe multicast configuration in one or more bandwidth partconfigurations, or a serving cell configuration, or a combinationthereof.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein receiving the values of theone or more parameters of the multicast configuration in the one or morebandwidth part configurations comprises: receiving a first set of valuesof the one or more parameters for a first bandwidth part configured atthe UE; and receiving a second set of values of the one or moreparameters for a second bandwidth part configured at the UE.
 7. Themethod of claim 5, wherein receiving the values of the one or moreparameters of the multicast configuration in the serving cellconfiguration comprises receiving a set of values of the one or moreparameters, the set of values applicable to each of a plurality ofbandwidth parts configured at the UE.
 8. The method of claim 5, whereinreceiving the values of the one or more parameters of the multicastconfiguration in the combination of the one or more bandwidth partconfigurations and the serving cell configuration comprises: receivingthe values of a first parameter of the one or more parameters in the oneor more bandwidth part configurations; and receiving the values of asecond parameter of the one or more parameters in the serving cellconfiguration.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: identifyingan active bandwidth part for the UE; determining a value of the firstparameter in the one or more bandwidth part configurations correspondingto the active bandwidth part; determining a value of the secondparameter in the serving cell configuration regardless of the activebandwidth part; and operating the UE in the active bandwidth partaccording to the determined value of the first parameter and thedetermined value of the second parameter.
 10. The method of claim 5,wherein the one or more parameters comprise parameters for the UE toprovide acknowledgment feedback for the multicast data.
 11. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: identifying a multicast signal to betransmitted to the UE in a first bandwidth part; determining that asecond bandwidth part different than the first bandwidth part is activefor the UE; and refraining from receiving the multicast signal based atleast in part on determining that the second bandwidth part is activefor the UE.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying amulticast signal to be transmitted to the UE in a first bandwidth part;determining that a second bandwidth part different than the firstbandwidth part is active for the UE; and switching the first bandwidthpart to active to receive the multicast signal based at least in part onidentifying the multicast signal.
 13. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: identifying a control resource set in a first bandwidthpart, the control resource set for control information for multicasttransmissions for the UE; determining that a second bandwidth partdifferent than the first bandwidth part is active for the UE; andrefraining from monitoring the identified control resource set based atleast in part on determining that the second bandwidth part is activefor the UE.
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying acontrol resource set in a first bandwidth part, the control resource setfor control information for multicast transmissions for the UE;determining that a second bandwidth part different than the firstbandwidth part is active for the UE; and switching the first bandwidthpart to active to monitor the identified control resource set based atleast in part on identifying the control resource set.
 15. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: monitoring a first bandwidth part of aprimary cell for the multicast configuration, the first bandwidth partdifferent than an active bandwidth part of the UE; and receiving, in thefirst bandwidth part, the multicast configuration based at least in parton the monitoring.
 16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:monitoring an active bandwidth part of the UE for the multicastconfiguration; and receiving, in the active bandwidth part, signalingindicating the multicast configuration based at least in part on themonitoring.
 17. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying,for the RRC state, a conflict between a first value for a parameterindicated by the determined multicast configuration and a second valuefor the parameter indicated by a second multicast configuration of theplurality of multicast configurations; and selecting between the firstvalue and the second value for the parameter according to aconfiguration selection rule.
 18. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising receiving, while operating according to the RRC state, firstmulticast data of the multicast data according to the determinedmulticast configuration and second multicast data of the multicast dataaccording to a second multicast configuration of the plurality ofmulticast configurations.
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein: a firstmulticast mode of the plurality of multicast modes is associated with anRRC connected state, and a second multicast mode of the plurality ofmulticast modes is associated with the RRC connected state, an RRC idlestate, and an RRC inactive state; or the first multicast mode isassociated with the RRC connected state, the RRC idle state, and the RRCinactive state, and the second multicast mode is associated with the RRCconnected state.
 20. A method for wireless communication at a basestation, comprising: determining, for a user equipment (UE), a firstmulticast mode of a plurality of multicast modes supported by the basestation, each multicast mode of the plurality of multicast modesassociated with one or more radio resource control (RRC) states;transmitting, to the UE, signaling indicating a multicast configurationaccording to the first multicast mode; and transmitting, to the UE,multicast data according to the transmitted multicast configuration. 21.The method of claim 20, further comprising identifying that the UE is tooperate according to the first multicast mode to receive the multicastdata, wherein the transmission of the multicast configuration accordingto the first multicast mode comprises signaling the multicastconfiguration in UE-dedicated signaling.
 22. The method of claim 20,further comprising identifying that the UE is to operate according tothe first multicast mode to receive the multicast data, wherein thetransmission of the multicast configuration according to the firstmulticast mode comprises signaling the multicast configuration insignaling common to a plurality of UEs, including the UE.
 23. The methodof claim 20, further comprising identifying a first bandwidth part thatis active for the UE, wherein the transmission of the multicastconfiguration according to the first multicast mode comprises signalingthe multicast configuration to identify that the multicast data is to betransmitted in the first bandwidth part.
 24. The method of claim 23,further comprising: identifying that the multicast data is to betransmitted in the first bandwidth part; identifying a second bandwidthpart different than the first bandwidth part that is active for the UE;and transmitting, to the UE, an indication that the UE is to switch fromthe second bandwidth part being active to the first bandwidth part beingactive, wherein the identification of the first bandwidth part beingactive for the UE is based at least in part on transmitting theindication.
 25. The method of claim 20, further comprising identifying afirst bandwidth part that is active for the UE, wherein the multicastconfiguration identifies a control resource set in the first bandwidthpart.
 26. The method of claim 25, further comprising: identifying thatcontrol signaling for the multicast data is to be transmitted in thecontrol resource set in the first bandwidth part; identifying that asecond bandwidth part for the UE is active; and transmitting, to the UE,an indication that the UE is to switch from the second bandwidth partbeing active to the first bandwidth part being active, wherein theidentification of the first bandwidth part being active for the UE isbased at least in part on transmitting the indication.
 27. An apparatusfor wireless communication, comprising: a processor, memory coupled withthe processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable bythe processor to cause the apparatus to: receive signaling indicating aplurality of multicast configurations for a plurality of multicast modessupported by the apparatus, each multicast mode of the plurality ofmulticast modes being associated with one or more radio resource control(RRC) states; determine a multicast configuration of the plurality ofmulticast configurations based at least in part on an RRC stateaccording to which the UE is operating; and receive, while operatingaccording to the RRC state, multicast data according to the determinedmulticast configuration.
 28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein theinstructions to receive the signaling indicating the plurality ofmulticast configurations are executable by the processor to cause theapparatus to receive signaling indicating the multicast configuration inUE-dedicated signaling, the instructions further executable by theprocessor to cause the apparatus to: determine that the multicastconfiguration is associated with a first multicast mode of the pluralityof multicast modes based at least in part on the signaling indicatingthe multicast configuration being received in UE-dedicated signaling.29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the instructions to receive thesignaling indicating the multicast configuration are executable by theprocessor to cause the apparatus to receive signaling indicating themulticast configuration in signaling common to a plurality ofapparatuses that include the apparatus, the instructions furtherexecutable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: determine thatthe multicast configuration is associated with a first multicast mode ofthe plurality of multicast modes based at least in part on the signalingindicating the multicast configuration being received in signalingcommon to the plurality of apparatuses.
 30. An apparatus for wirelesscommunication, comprising: a processor, memory coupled with theprocessor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by theprocessor to cause the apparatus to: identify, for a user equipment(UE), a first multicast mode of a plurality of multicast modes supportedby a base station, each multicast mode of the plurality of multicastmodes associated with one or more radio resource control (RRC) states;transmit, to the UE, a multicast configuration according to the firstmulticast mode; and transmit, to the UE, multicast data according to thetransmitted multicast configuration.